Professional Documents
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PIPELINE
ENGINEERING
Introduction
Humankind needs to move fluids from place
to place.
Some fluids have to be moved in huge
quantities and over long distances: examples
water, oil, natural gas, and carbon dioxide.
Other fluids have to be moved in smaller
quantities or over shorter distances:
examples steam, ethylene, blood, milk, wine,
helium, mercury, nitroglycerin, and
petrochemicals.
IMPORTANCE OF PIPELINES
Pipelines are the least understood
and least appreciated mode of
transport.
Pipelines are poorly understood by
the general public because they are
most often underground and invisible
out of sight, out of mind!
Despite the low degree of recognition
by the public, pipelines are vitally
important to the economic wellbeing
and security of most nations.
ADVANTAGES OF PIPELINES
Economical in many circumstances. Factors
that favor pipelines include large throughput,
rugged terrain and hostile environment (such
as transportation through swamps).
Under ordinary conditions, pipelines can
transport fluids (liquids or gases) at a fraction
of the cost of transportation by truck or train
(fig 1).
Solid transport by pipeline is far more complex
and costly than fluid transport.
Still, in many cases, pipelines are used to
transport solids because the cost is lower than
for other modes of transportation, such as
trucks.
ADVANTAGES OF PIPELINES
Low energy consumption.
The energy intensiveness of large
pipelines is much lower than that of
trucks, and is even lower than that of
rail.
The energy intensiveness is defined
as the energy consumed in
transporting unit weight of cargo
over unit distance, in units such as
Btu per ton mile.
Friendly to environment.
This is due mainly to the fact that most
pipelines are underground.
They do not pose most of the
environmental problems associated with
trucks and trains, such as air pollution,
noise, traffic jams on highways and at rail
crossings, and killing animals that strayed
on highways and railroads.
Oil pipelines may pollute land and rivers
when a leak or rupture develops.
However, far more spills would occur if
trucks and trains transported the same oil.
Unaffected by weather.
Weather does not affect pipelines
because most of them are buried
underground below the frostline.
High reliability.
Because pipeline operation is
continuous, automatic, and
unaffected by weather, pipelines are
highly reliable.
Furthermore, they are least affected
by labor strikes, holidays, delivery
schedules, etc.
The system operates continuously
around the clock without stop.
Convenience.
Water and gas pipelines transport
commodities directly to homes, a great
convenience to the public.
Oil pipelines bring crude oil to refineries
and bring refined petroleum products,
such as gasoline and diesel fuel, to the
market without the products leaving the
pipelines.
Even when one puts gasoline in a car at
a filling station, the gasoline moves
through a short pipe (hose) fitted with a
nozzle.
ROUTE SELECTION
Politics
Environment
Approaches to existing platforms and
risers
Avoidance of zones exposed to anchor
damage
Avoidance of zones exposed to
dropped-object damage
Crossings of existing pipelines
Cables
Areas of very hard seabed
Areas of very soft seabed etc
Physical Factors
A pipeline rests on or in the seabed.
From the pipeline point of view, the
ideal seabed is level, smooth, and
composed of stable medium clay.
The pipe settles into the clay and
gains enhanced lateral stability.